Elastix: How to lookup extensions by first OR last name in your IVR

Introduction

As you may or may not know, Elastix provides both a "phone book" and a "directory" that provide slightly different functionality. The "phone book" (also accessible by dialing 411 from a phone) only allows you to search by first name and it will spell back the matched extensions letter-by-letter. The "directory" (accessible by dialing # from a phone) is more what you are accustomed to, where you can search by last name and the matching entries (the user's recorded name from voice mail) get spoken back to you.

To see the difference, dial 411 for the "phone book" from one of your connected phones. Then, dial # for the "directory" from one of your connected phones.

By default, you can easily add the "phone book" as a destination from your IVR. Below, I'll show you how to easily make the "directory" a destination and therefore give your users and customers the experience they expect (and that is honestly a lot easier to use)!

Steps
(5 total)

1

Navigate to the "Misc Destination" page in the PBX module

From the PBX module of Elastix, click the navigation link on the right hand side for "Misc Destinations".

2

Add a new "Misc Destination"

Click the link in the upper right corner to "Add Misc Destination"

3

Create the Misc Destination

Give it a description (I used simply "Directory"). Then from the drop down menu, specify that it should call up the Directory (which will automatically populate the value {infoservices:directory}).

4

Add the Misc Destination to the IVR

Assign one of the options in your IVR to call the new Misc Destination we just created. Hit "Save" when you are done.

5

Apply changes

As always, don't forget to click the red "apply changes" bar at the top of the screen.

Conclusion

With these few configuration changes, you now have a way for your customers to look up extensions from your IVR that is also easy for them to use!

NOTE: If your users haven't recorded their name in the voicemail system, Elastix will still read back their name, letter-by-letter. NetworkNerd made a great suggestion in another thread that forces people to record their name the first time they check voicemail (perfect on new implementations of Elastix). You can put "forcename=yes" in the VM Options field of the extension as long as the voicemail password matches the extension number (such as on initial setup of an extension).﻿

(edited 10/3/2014 to state that this solution allows users to look up people by both the first OR last name)

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